


Co-Ownership

by ItCouldAllBeForNothingTommorow



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Adultery, BAMF Michonne (Walking Dead), Bisexual Male Character, Cheating Negan, Dead Lori Grimes, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Lovers to Friends, Lucille is dying and then she dies, M/M, Minor Character Death, Negan becomes one of the family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pet Ownership Bringing People Together, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Work Up For Adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 03:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13379061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItCouldAllBeForNothingTommorow/pseuds/ItCouldAllBeForNothingTommorow
Summary: Lucille wants Negan to have more than just her so he won’t be alone when she dies.  So she tells him to go adopt a dog.  His search leads him to a lot more than either of them expected.





	1. Adopt A Dog?

**Author's Note:**

> The writing in this isn’t even close to great. Its pretty much a very detailed summary for a story I don’t have time to tell but really love so I’ve typed it out and am sharing it in the hope your like the story even if the storytelling is lacking.

Lucile makes a request of Negan. 

Go get a dog.

He tells her she’s being ridiculous and has been watching too much Hallmark channel.

She insists it isn’t ridiculous. “All you’ve got in this world to love is me and yourself, baby. When I go I don’t want you to be all you’ve got or you're going to become someone even I couldn’t love.”

And alright that had been harsh, very harsh. Lucille was generally kind but when she felt a point needed making, stuff like that could come out of her. Since they’d found out she was dying it was happening more and more often.

So Negan went to get a god damn dog. If it would make Lucille happy he’d do it and when she was gone he’d keep and care for the damn thing cause that is what he promised her he’d do. Lord knew he’d broken enough promises to her over the years. If this was all she was making him promise for on what was going to be her death bed soon enough then that is what he was going to do.

That was how Negan found himself at a local fair where a pet rescue had set up a table and pens with lots of panting pups, trying to take advantage of people’s good moods to get them to do something a little impulsive or at least donate some money in exchange for getting to pet the dogs. At least that’s how Negan saw it and as far as he was concerned this convincing people to adopt who weren’t looking was one of the reason so many of their dogs got returned months, or years down the road. As far as Negan had come to believe from what he saw of the world people were who they were and convincing them of anything was never meant to last. Hell, he’d spent every day he was with Lucille with the best motivation in the world to be a better man but it didn’t mean he actually managed it.

He scared off the peppy little mutt obsessed women who’d been pitching at him and is looking over the dogs. He already knows he isn’t going to get any of them though. These are all the pretty ones. All the ones put out for show. Negan knows that if he’s going to do this he’s getting a proper hopeless case. He’s got not chose in this so he might as well saddle himself with a dog that’s got no chance without him. Besides, he knows Lucille will love him all the more for it. Besides, Negan’s always respected survivors and badasses. He figures he’ll have an easier time actually enjoying having the dog around if it’s got something of those qualities to it.

One of the braver, more zen volunteers approaches him and points out that it doesn’t seem like any of the dogs are what he’s looking for. Negan agrees and explains that dogs like these can get in to any old home with a smiling happy family. He says he’s looking for one that really needs the home. Despite how detached she was when she came over Negan can tell she’s touched. He can’t help but planning out how exactly he’d get her into bed and wondering how much of a challenge it would really be. But then he thinks of Lucille in the hospital waiting for him and forces himself not to make the moves to find out.

The woman asks some more about his situation and Negan decides to be honest with her in the hope that maybe it will kill her interest and make her too much of a challenge to be appealing for a casual fuck.

When she’s heard his story the volunteer asks Negan if he’s given any thought to co-ownership and Negan’s interest is peeked. Owning a dog without having to have sole responsibility for the thing definitely sounds like his kind of thing. It ends up being about the best things Negan ever did after Lucille.


	2. The Family Next Door

It turns out that the lady at the pet fair knows of a senior citizen who’s health is declining and had reached out to the organization about finding the dog a new home. The man is having trouble taking care of the dog due to quickly declining health. He doesn’t want to give the dog up but he feels like he is running out of options. The dog however, like his owner is older and they would likely have trouble getting it adopted and having it adjust to someone knew. The volunteer tells him that it would probably be best for dog and owner if they could stay together. She tells Negan, if he’s really looking to make a difference than this is a situation where he could do a lot of good.

Negan doesn’t need much selling on the idea. He doesn’t promise anything but he likes the idea of an older dog who might not be around for long and maybe never having to be fully responsible for the dog. From what the volunteer tells him the owner basically needs a helping hand. Someone to come around and walk the dog, to take it to the vet, to watch it when they have a hospital stay, and give an old man the peace of mind, knowing the dog is looked after if something happens to them.

Negan agrees to a meeting between himself and the owner and gives the volunteer his contact information.

He tells Lucille about putting out some feelers when he goes back to the hospital and she seems happy but reluctant with that happiness. Reluctant to trust that Negan’s actually going to follow through. Negan has to admit he’s given her enough reason in the past too lack faith.

The volunteer takes him to meet the owner and the dog the next day after they’ve both finished off work. Negan shows up with no intention of the meeting mattering overly much or getting attached. Negan doesn’t mean too, doesn’t realize it’s happened till its too late but he kind of falls in love with dog and owner alike. 

When he gets to the hospital he tells Lucille about the dog. It’s an proper mutt with course hair and gangly limps, and is just not attractive at all but the thing is smart as hell and doesn’t care that it’s the size of a pony. It just decides if it likes you and if it does it’s laying on your lap and you’ve got to deal with it.

Lucille smiles and listens and then asks him about the owner. Negan tells her all about the guy. How when they first got there he was standoffish and abrasive but Negan had won him over. How the volunteer had left them too it and they’s just talked for hours. The guy had a good sense of humor and some great stories. They’d had good time together.

Lucille is very happy with what she’s hearing. She says that this will give him not just another living thing to care for but a person as well. Negan insists that its just about the dog. Lucille pats his hand and tells him that just isn’t how he works. She tells him that he likes to help people, at least the ones he likes, and that he hates to see what needs doing not get done. This man needs help, so if Negan is around he’s going to help him, she insists.

She tells him if he loves her at all he’ll adopt the dog and the man. Negan insists he’s not adopting a grown ass man but he does go in on the dog.

He starts going over twice a day. Once in the morning before work and then after. The dog gets a run in the morning and a walk in the afternoon. Negan then spends time with the owner when they get back before he heads to visit Lucille in the hospital and then home for some chores and sleep and to start things over again. It keeps him busy and busy is good. On the weekends he spends most of his time with Lucille. Accept when the owner needs him because… yeah, he adopted the guy like Lucille said. It started with doing things around the house for the guy because he saw them and they needed doing and it wasn’t a big deal. “The guy isn’t very mobile anymore and I just- Fine you were right. You can say I told you so and get it out of your system, Lucille.”

Lucille does say I told you so but it isn’t out of her system.

One day when Negan is working on the gutter at the guys house the neighbor comes up to talk to him. The neighbor’s name is Rick. Rick asks after the owner checking he is okay and who Negan is. He comes up in his uniform on and Negan asks if he’s worried Negan’s breaking in or something when Rick explains this is social, not work.

Negan learns that Rick and his family like the neighbor and have tried to reach out to help but he always insists he’s fine. Rick tells Negan that if the man needs anything or if they can help at all to let them know and to tel the guy that Carl misses walking the dog and so if they want him too he’ll be happy to do it. Judith misses the dog too.

Negan goes in and asks the old man about it once he’s finished the work. The guy explains that he didn’t like to burden them as they have enough to deal with. He tells Negan about Rick’s wife who died in childbirth as there was a complication that turned deadly when she just didn’t get to the hospital and into the hands of the right care in time. So now Rick’s raising a baby and a teenager on his own and doesn’t need an old man’s problems taking up more of his time.

Negan asks about the kid walking the dog. The man says its something his father volunteered him for when the owner was in the hospital and that while the kid did it the guy is sure that he isn’t eager to do it for free and tie up his free time given that he is a teenager.

It's a couple weeks later that Negan meets Carl. He and the dog are getting back from their evening walk and Carl is on the porch with a friend. The dog is eager to go to them. Negan lets it because he recognizes its Rick’s house and figures they won’t mind. He gets talking with Carl and they are still at it when Rick gets home.

Rick ends up inviting both Negan and the neighbor and the dog over for dinner saying that they were getting take out anyway so it's not like it's a matter of not having enough in the house for guests.

Negan accepts on both their behalf’s.

It takes a lot of persuading to make the old man believe it isn’t out of pity. Once the man agrees Negan helps him get ready, and helps wheel him over and up into Rick’s house. They have a good dinner. By the time the night is over it’s clear to Negan that the kids do love the dog and also clear that Rick’s needed some time with adults in a non-work environment.

Afterwards Negan gets the old guy home then goes to visit Lucille. Lucille is so damn pleased with what she hears that Negan is both pleased she’s pleased and irritated by it.

Dinner’s at Rick’s becomes something that happens twice weekly. Every Wednesday and Sunday to be exact.

Negan kind of falls in love with the Grimes much as he did the owner and the dog which is a good thing because when Lucille gets worse his new little support group is there for him.

On Lucille’s last day on earth Rick is at the hospital with him when it happens. Negan asks Rick about his own wife’s passing while they sit at Lucille’s bedside. Rick tells him about it and his own grief and throwing himself into his kids and work and not letting himself feel for a long time. For so long that once he started letting himself feel the feelings again they had already started to fade and how he wishes he’d actually grieved because now when he thinks of Lori he mostly feels numb.

Negan thinks being numb is a small price to pay for skipping the grieving process so moving forward he does his best to stay so busy and invested in other people that he can’t have time to feel. 

The old man’s house is practically completely renovated. The dog is being cared for better than just about any dog in the world. Negan’s the old man’s chauffeur to all his appointments and physical therapy. Negan takes care of that man almost as well as he takes care of the dog but Negan draws the lines at baths. Negan also invests more heavily in the Grimes family. He becomes the goddamn best friend Rick Grimes could ever ask for, a kind of cool uncle to Carl, and one of Judith’s favorite people/babysitters/teething rings.

Months pass and he spends as little time at home or free to think as possible. Until one morning Negan shows up to take the dog on their run and finds the old man is still in bed and won’t wake up. The ambulance comes and they go to the hospital, the same hospital Negan’s Lucille died in. Negan stays at the old man’s side as much as they’ll let him. Turns out that they let him stay for most of it as Negan had been made the old guys durable power of attorney.

This time, when the person Negan cares about passes on, Negan is alone at their bedside.

He doesn’t remember leaving the hospital. He only barely remembers Carl finding him on their front porch with the dog and calling his dad to come home. Then Rick was there and getting him inside.

Suddenly Negan can’t help to let the grief have it’s say and now he’s got to grieve for two people.

Rick has him stay in the guest bedroom. Negan doesn’t fight him on it. He doesn’t want to go home and be alone. As weak as he thinks it makes him, being able to hold Judith and the damn dog are about all the keep him from crying all the time.

Negan finds out the old man left him the house saying in a letter that with all the free work he put into it Negan deserved it and how tit wouldn’t be fair of the dog to move and that more than any of that he thinks the Grimes are good for Negan and Negan is good for them so he should stay close. He tells Negan to let that family take care of him and to take care of them in return.

Negan spends the months until his lease is up making the house his own. Rick and Carl help as they can. Negan using it as an excuse to teach Carl and to try and help teach Rick who’s just about hopeless at DIY. The dog stays with the Grimes most of the time with Negan coming to visit there. 

Judith’s birthday comes and it's a hard time mixed with grief for Lori life lost and celebration of Judith. 

They hold a little party for the birthday girl and its there that Negan meets Shane. Negan knows about Rick being shot. He knows about Rick going into a coma. He knows about the affair that happened between Lori and Shane and how Judith may be, nah probably is Shane’s biological child. Carl had actually been the first to tell Negan and then Negan had talked to Rick about it and Rick had been able to open up and tell Negan about it from his perspective as there was at least some truths Carl had been protected from. So Negan knew that Shane had tried to back off and go back to being Rick’s friend and nothing more after Rick woken up. He and Lori had agreed not to tell Rick and Shane did his best to make sure Rick never knew. He had tried going on with other women and presenting things as normal and Lori tried her best as well. But then they’d learned Lori was pregnant. Shane couldn’t handle playing “normal” anymore and started making moves at Lori. Subtle moves. Things that could be written off but for Lori the intent had been clear. So she’d pushed Shane away which only made Shane worse. His resentment to Rick grew and with it the strain on their partnership until they could no longer work together and got new partners. Then one night Shane had shown up drunk and told Lori that it was his baby and when it was born he was going to get a test and then she’d have to acknowledge things and they would have to raise the baby together. It hadn’t been clear how he expected Rick to fit in that picture. It was only after that incident that Lori confessed to Rick about the affair but Rick had already known for a long time. Rick and Lori resolved to handle things as best they could and to accept that Shane might be the father. Only then Lori had died in childbirth. Shane never brought up testing or acknowledged Judith or showed any interest in being the little girl’s father. In fact it was only a couple months after Judith’s birth that Shane filed to be transferred to Atlanta.

Negan knows that Rick invited Shane to the party. He also knows they weren’t expecting him to come. So Negan makes a point of shadowing the guy and keeping an eye on him but he never starts any trouble. Mostly he mingles. Negan notices that Shane avoids the birthday girl as best he can. He does however hand over a present to Carl when he tells the kid he’s bowing out early and to say goodbye to his dad for Shane. 

Later Rick and Carl open the present with Negan there to support them. 

It’s cash. A lot of impersonal cash. A couple thousand dollars worth of what Negan figures is meant as back owed child support. Rick adds it and all the other cash that came from people to Judith’s college fund. Negan knows that unless circumstances change dramatically that money isn’t going to be touched until Judith graduates high school.

Moving day finally comes. Rick and Carl and some of Rick’s friends are enlisted to help Negan move. Once he’s moved in they have a big party in the backyard or rather yards given that they leave the gate open between the tow neighboring houses. A gate Negan installed in the fence between their properties so the dog could go more freely back and forth.

Negan and Rick both drink a little more than is probably advisable. Neither of them thinking about the fact that they’ve had little to eat all day given how focused they were on the move.

The end of the night comes and they are both a bit tipsy. With the guests gone and the kids in bed they plop on the couch and open another beer each with the dog spread over their laps.

They get talking about things. About Negan being next door and what that’s going to look like. Rick ends up confessing that he’s glad Negan’s a part of their lives. Negan tells Rick about how that happened. How it was Lucille who insisted he get a dog. Rick tells him he’s glad and then gets a little too honest. He tells Negan again how glad he is that Negan’s in his life and how lonely he’d been. Says he doesn’t quite know what he’d do without Negan.

When Negan looks at Rick he can see the attraction there and like it always does his head starts running off thinking about what he could do with that attraction. Once he’s thinking about how he could seduce Rick, he fins he wants it so badly. He knows he probably should stop himself but he doesn’t. So he seduces Rick. They sleep together, right there on that couch, that night, with the dog banished to the backyard for the duration.

It happens again the next day…and a few days later, and again, and again until sleeping together is just a part of their friendship. 

Only then one day Negan catches someone flirting with Rick. Some housewife named Jessie or some shit and worse is that Rick is kind of flirting back Suddenly Negan wants. He wants a claim on Rick. He doesn't’ want Rick to be allowed to be with anyone else. He wants Rick to be his. So he acts on what he wants. Their friendship with sex becomes a romantic relationship with lots of sex and things are good. Carl accepts it. There friends accept it. Everything is easy. Things are really, really good… Until a new women starts working with Negan and he sees her attraction to him and he knows he could have her and once he knows, he wants. He fights it for all of a month before he acts on it. Its better then he ever managed for Lucille and as stupid as it is that does me him feel better about finally giving in. He knows he isn’t doing the right thing, but he also knows he’s doing better than he’s done before.

When the deed is done he can’t help but think that people really don’t change and he feels that somehow that excuses his actions.

He doesn’t even like the woman for anything more than she’s a bit of a sassy badass and has a great body. He knows for a fact that she feels “seducing” with him is some great accomplishment because he’s in a relationship with a man. Girl doesn’t understand that bi-sexuality is a thing and she isn’t turning him straight or any shit like that like she believes. When she starts talking about him leaving Rick so they can get serious Negan laughs in her face and ends it. He doesn’t even miss the sex when it’s done.

He should have known she would go and tell Rick about the affair to get back at him. But honestly, he wasn’t expecting it. When she sends him a text to let him know what she’d done he’d been floored.

All the ride home Negan’s thinking about how hurt and betrayed Rick is going to feel and thinking about how Rick deserves better but how Negan can’t be better and is selfish enough that he isn’t going to let Rick go. So Negan stops thinking about how hurt Rick will be and starts planning the promises he’s going to make and how he’s going to get Rick to stay with him.

Even though he wasn’t consciously thinking about it Negan is expecting Rick to handle things the way Lucille did. He’s expecting to be able to get Rick’s acceptance and that they will move on. He’d have to kiss butt and tiptoe for a while but they’ll be fine. Only Rick doesn’t handle it the same way Lucille always did and looking back Negan knows he should have expected it the same as he should have expected the bitch to rat him out.

Rick makes it clear that things are over and no apologies or promises will be enough. He points out that when they went exclusive it was Negan who asked for, no, begged for it saying he needed to know Rick was his and agreeing to only be Rick’s in return. Now that he proven he wasn’t going to hold up then Rick wasn’t either. Rick refused to let Negan go on hurting him like he hurt Lucille. And that is the problem with falling in love with friends. They know you and they get to know who when your aren’t concerned with presenting yourself as a romantic interest.

Negan tried to talk Rick out of it but Rick wasn’t to be swayed. 

Rick tells him that their romantic relationship is done but the option is there that they go back to being friends. And yes, they could be friends who occasionally fucked, but Rick was going to be free to date who he pleased and if those relationships developed than maybe those benefits would have to end.

In the end Negan decided it was probably the best he was going to get. He didn’t like it but he could see Rick wasn’t going to change his mind, so he accepted Rick’s terms, thinking, hoping Rick would soften his stance with time.

They explained things to Carl. Carl told Negan he was an idiot and stayed sour with him for some time but they got over it and things moved on. Life went on. It wasn’t as good as it had been before, but it was still better than it could have been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go. I have it written. I just need to edit it and it will be up tomorrow or in a couple of days.


	3. Co-Ownership

Things were good for awhile. Negan screwed around and still got to have Rick which he enjoyed. He didn’t enjoy the distance between him and Rick though. He didn’t like that he couldn’t put an arm around his shoulders when he was out in public. He didn’t like that they only went out together with the kids. He couldn’t exactly define what all had changed in his relationship but there was a definite sense that he had lost something.

Rick didn’t sleep around but he did date some which Negan did not enjoy but did not get a say in. He did make a point of spending more time with Rick and sleeping with him more when Rick went on so much as one date with someone. He knew Rick. He thought that Rick wouldn’t be able to really connect or invest with someone else while Negan was still there reminding him of what they had. He tactic was working and keeping Rick from attaching to someone new until Michonne showed up.

Michonne who was hot as hell and a badass and a great mom with a kid a bit older than Judith who’s dad was out of the picture except for the occasional visit.

Rick met her through a couple he knew from Judith’s preschool. They had been introduced and become friendly acquaintances who were sociable with each other when they happened to come across each other. Negan hadn’t seen it as any kind of threat to his place in Rick’s life, until things changed while Negan wasn’t watching and suddenly Rick and Michonne were friends, good friends, and becoming closer by the day. Rick and Michonne did things together as two people and with their families. They talked. They texted. Michonne started coming around the house with her son and coming around so frequently it was always a matter or When would Michonne be coming over not If.

Negan worried because he could see what had happened between himself and Rick happening between Michonne and Rick. He could see where things would likely head. He knew where the path could lead. If it happened, if Rick and Michonne got together, Negan couldn’t see Michonne messing things up the way he had. They would last, they would go the long haul, and any chance Negan had of getting back what he had with Rick would die. Negan didn’t want that to happen. So he took as much of Rick as he could get. He stuck to Rick and the house like a flypaper to a butterfly. He slept with Rick as often as he could and reminisced just as often.

But then one day when Negan made a move on Rick, Rick shot him down and sat him down for a talk. Rick told him that something had happened between himself and Michonne, something Rick thought could be the start of something. Rick wanted to give it a real shot and he knew he couldn’t do that if he let things go on with Negan. Negan tried to insist that nothing had to change and that it wouldn’t get in the way of anything but Rick knew better.

As was his nature, Rick stuck to what he’d resolved and they were, as Rick had warned, just friends again.

Michonne and Rick became a thing so fast and so easily Negan couldn’t help but resent it. They were a team, a matched pair, and when Negan looked at them he knew the chances that they would split and he’d get Rick back were practically nonexistent. He knew he needed to mourn it and move on. He tried. But he couldn’t let it go.

Judith’s birthday rolled around and with it came Shane’s annual return. Negan had expected it to be like any other year. Only it wasn’t. Shane had never showed up with a date in the past but this year Shane showed up with a women on his arm by the name of Andrea. Negan spent the first part of the day entertaining the idea of seducing Andrea into a fuck then letting Shane know about it. He felt like it would be a good kind of payback for Shane getting with Lori. Even he knew it was a bad idea though so after entertaining himself for a while with daydreams of it, he let it go. Once he set the idea aside he was able to really see Shane and realize this year was different for more than the man just bringing a date. He was talking with Rick and Carl and making more than just small talk. He wasn’t avoiding the Grimes and he wasn’t avoiding Judy either. Negan felt a swell of nerves wondering if Shane was going to try to fuck with shit. Was he planning of coming back into their lives? Was he about trying to get custody of Judith. Negan knew he’d kill the man if he tried and suddenly Negan entertaining much darker fantasies.

Shane and Andrea ended up staying long after the party was over. Once the kids were in bed it was the two couples and Negan as the fifth wheel. The atmosphere was light and easy but Negan was still watchful and suspicious.

The girls had gone off together to talk having hit it off so Negan stayed with the boys. Shane was talkative. Eager to really catch up and hear about Rick’s relationship with Michonne and how life had been going for the Grimes and the town and to talk about his with Andrea. 

At the end of the night Rick was saying how good it was to see Shane and really talk to him. Shane had looked guilty then and Negan knew that whatever bomb was going to be dropped was about to land. Shane revealed that he felt like he needed to take the opportunity to come and really talk and let himself be there as there wasn’t likely to be another anytime soon. When Rick asked what he meant Shane revealed that Andrea had been up in Atlanta on business but would be returning to Florida soon and well, Shane was going to be going back with her when she went home which meant he probably wasn’t going to be able to make it when the next birthday rolled around. Rick had been thrown. Negan could see it. But he took it well and went with it asking the polite questions and giving Shane his well wishes. Shane hugged him goodbye in the end and told Rick to look after that girl before he left with Andrea on his arm. Negan wondered if they would ever see Shane again. For Rick’s sake he didn’t know whether to hope they did or didn’t.

Rick had looked lost and a little hurt. Negan had wanted to comfort him but it was Michonne Rick reached for, not him. So Negan said his goodnights and took the dog with back to his house.

Life went on. Things were good but not as good as they’d been and there was a hole in Negan’s life that he was always aware of.

Michonne started asking Negan some questions about his love life one night. Negan didn’t think of it as a big deal at fist. After all he was always open so he didn’t see a problem. Only when the questions persisted and became more about his past. It was then that Negan became weary. He asked Michonne what the line of questioning was about. Michonne said she’d heard Rick’s side of things before but wanted to hear Negan’s. Somehow, she actually managed to get the story out of him. She pointed out that he really had brought about his own problems. Negan said that you are who you are. Michonne agreed but she challenged Negan asking if he’d ever considered that he wasn’t meant to be a cheater but instead just wasn’t meant for monogamy. Negan pointed out that those things usually went hand in hand unless you never got serious with anyone or you were into polygamy. Michonne said that wasn’t always necessarily the case. She then talked to him about polyamory and how being in one relationship didn’t have to hold you back from pursuing someone else and different kinds of relationships and it all got a bit overwhelming for Negan to hear Michonne so calmly discussing things that went against everything the world had been telling Negan his whole life, and it was Michonne. Michonne who was with Rick and had the perfect little coupling. So what the hell.

“What is the point of this little chat,” Negan demanded.

Michonne raised an eyebrow, unimpressed before explaining. 

Michonne told Negan that she was never one of those people who cared about “possessing” someone. Monogamy didn’t matter much to her one way or another. She told him about her past with dating and how discovering polyamory had been like finally being measured to know your shoe size. Her foot had always been that size but finally she finally had a label so when asked she could communicate what she wanted and avoid shoes that don’t fit.

She gave Negan a pointed look.

“Like relationships you weren’t suited for,” Negan asked and Michonne shrugged.

She went on to explain that she only ever really wanted one person at a time but she didn’t mind if that person was with other people. As long as everything was discussed and the right precautions were taken to make sure it was safe sex, she was good.

“I really don’t know why you’re telling me about this,” Negan said.

“I’m telling you this so you’ll get where I’m coming from when I tell you Rick misses you.”

Negan stared at her. Shocked.

“You should think about that,” Michonne said as the kids came into the room and their conversation was interrupted but Negan wasn’t letting that go.

“What do you mean, he misses me,” Negan asked cornering her later when they were alone.

“Just that, he misses you. He misses what you had and I think you do to.”

“He has you know,” Negan said resentfully.

Michonne just stared at him then pressed into his space. “But I’m not you. That was the point of all of this. Being with me, that doesn’t stop him wanting to be with you anymore than being with you, would take away from what the two of us have.”

Negan swallowed. “What are you suggesting?”

Michonne said she wanted Negan to consider what kind of relationship he wanted with Rick and what kind of relationship he could actually commit to on his end and be happy.

Negan was pretty sure Michonne hadn’t brought this up to Rick so Negan through it in her face, asking what Rick thought of all this. 

Michonne explained that she didn't want to get Rick thinking about things and hoping until she new if Negan could commit to the kind of relationship that would actually be good for Rick. However when she and Rick had gotten together they had talked about polyamory. Not just Michonne’s views but Rick’s as well. Rick had warned her their might be a time when he would want something more or someone else and they had started their relationship with that in mind.

Negan was god smacked.

Michonne points out that he shouldn’t be surprised then reminds him that Rick was never the one to ask for monogamy. Negan was.

She puts a hand on Negan’s arm. Her expression is caring and open. She tells him she needs him to think about everything and if he could do what she would ask, then come talk to her about it. She said he’d had to live without Rick for a while now, had to loose Rick, so could he handle Rick being with her and with him? Could he be okay not sleeping around without talking to both Rick and herself first about who he was going to be with? Could he be honest and open about it? Because that is the only way she could see what she was suggesting working out. She then warned him that while he was thinking about it he should keep in mind that if he hurt Rick again she’d take his balls. Negan wasn’t entirely sure she was being metaphorical. 

Later that night when he was getting ready to head home Michonne plopped a tablet in his hand saying while he was thinking he should do some research. In the browser were many many links to articles and websites and stories about polyamorous relationships and advice for those in them.

Negan researched, Negan thought about it, and Negan decided that yes, this is something he could do and wanted to do. So he did as Michonne had asked and went to talk to her about it. She helped him talk it out and make sure he was sure and to iron out the particulars before she nodded and told him she’d start getting Rick thinking about it to and more importantly helping him to let himself believe it could work.

A few weeks later they all sat down for coffee and had honest grownup conversation about what they wanted, ow it was doing to work, what the rules and boundaries would be, and what they would do if things weren’t working.

They sat Carl down the night and told him what was happening, all agreeing it was important for him to understand and not be confused.

When they were done Carl studied them all before rolling his eyes and declaring “whatever” and explaining that as long as they were happy then he was good but he did warned Negan not to hurt his dead again.

The next night Negan picked up Rick and took him on a date. After the date he took Rick back to his house and they went to bed. It felt so right. The hole in Negan’s life wasn’t there anymore after that night.

Life went on from there.

Negan and Michonne both had Rick but only Michonne could “have” Rick at their house and any of Negan and Rick’s private time had to happen off site which usually meant Negan’s house but it wasn’t as though his house was far. Negan was allowed to put his arm over Rick’s shoulder in public and could kiss him whenever he liked, within reason. The intimacy they had before was a back and it all, just worked.

Things were really good.

And then Negan met a girl and he liked her. She was a grieving her fiancee and honestly he had started out just trying to offer her support but it turned out that along with being beautiful she was also just so damn badass that he couldn’t help but want her. Rick and Michonne teased him about his crush and someone it was easy not to do as he’d always done. Instead of trying to sneak, trying to go behind everyone’s back to just get what he want, he talked to Rick and Michonne about it. Because that was what they did. That was how their thing worked. So he went to them and got their okay to move forward.

Life went on. Things weren’t always easy but things continued to work. And it was really good.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are interested in adopting this idea or any part of it, this is my blanket permission to proceed. All I ask is that you let me know in the comments when something is posted so I can check it out and give a little shout out or link back to me in what you end up making.


End file.
